The Two Jakes: Special Collector's Edition

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All Rise...

Judge Roy Hrab is convinced that Hollywood really needs to make the The Three Roys, starring Roy Hobbs from The Natural, Roy Munson from Kingpin, and Roy McAvoy from Tin Cup.

The Charge

"If you follow the money, you will get to the truth."

Opening Statement

The Two Jakes is the sequel to the
classic Chinatown. However, The
Two Jakes did not receive anything near the acclaim of its predecessor.
Further, the 1990 sequel also marks the last directorial effort of Jack
Nicholson. Could a disappointing film be on the horizon? All signs points to
"yes."

With respect to The Two Jakes: Special Collector's Edition, Paramount
stretches the meaning of "Special Collector's Edition" to its breaking
point.

Facts of the Case

Life is looking good for Jake Gittes (Nicholson) in 1948 Los Angeles, ten
years after Chinatown. His detective
agency is booming. He owns his building and is a member of an exclusive country
club. He has a fiancée. However, Gittes's life is thrown for a loop when
one of his clients, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel, Cop Land), commits murder. Berman
walks in on his wife having an affair with his business partner and shoots him.
Is it a crime of passion or a premeditated murder? As Gittes searches for the
truth his past begins to creep back into his life.

The Evidence

Even if one could forget Chinatown
was ever made, The Two Jakes would still
be considered below par. It's hard to believe that screenwriter Robert Towne
(Tequila Sunrise) and Nicholson fashioned such a clumsy and clunky film.
They had collaborated on Chinatown, of course, but also the tremendous
Hal Ashby film The Last Detail. Yet,
here it is: The Two Jakes never picks up any steam after the initial
killing occurs. It merely grinds ever more closely to a complete halt during its
overlong 137-minute runtime.

The problems begin with the story. It begins well enough with the murder.
However, before long, more and more characters emerge, seeming to have more to
with introducing complications for the sake of complications rather than
advancing anything meaningful.

We have Mrs. Bodine (Madeline Stowe, 12
Monkeys), the wife of Jake Berman's dead business partner. This makes sense.
But then we get Mickey Nice (Rubén Blades, Once Upon A Time In Mexico), a
business associate of Berman, who randomly pops in and out of the picture to
intimidate Gittes. We have Earl Rawley (Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story), a business associate
of Mr. Bodine who may or may not have an interest in the parcel of land owned by
Bodine and Berman. We have Det. Lt. Loach (David Keith, Major League II),
the son of Det. Loach from Chinatown, who has a hate-on for Gittes. Then
Gittes's fiancée shows up for a couple of seconds and disappears. There are
more, many more. Too many to mention.

Needless to say, the film suffers from character and twist overload. It's
difficult to keep track of who is doing what to whom and for what reason (if
there is a decipherable one). The heavy use of voiceover by Gittes throughout
the film draws further attention to the confusing story. By the time everything
is revealed you'll likely be too exhausted to notice, care, or understand (What
is Berman rambling on and on about at the end?).

The biggest surprises (or disappointments) in this film are the poor
performances. This is astonishing for a movie featuring both Nicholson and
Keitel. The actors seem to be reading their lines from a very slow teleprompter.
Almost all the performances are drained of any energy (except for Stowe, who
tends to act overly hysterical). Most of the time, characters talk and move as
if suffering from severe depression or having taken a heavy dose of
tranquilizers.

What are the "extras" on this Special Collector's Edition?
Well, there is an 18-minute interview with Jack Nicholson, called "Jack on
Jakes," and the theatrical trailer. That's it. There are only two
extras. This is not special. Nicholson discusses the film and indicates that
this was a troubled production from the very beginning. It took about eight
years to get the film made. And there appear to have been significant problems
with the script. Also, Nicholson states that there was to be a third film.
However, the poor response to The Two Jakes appears to have quashed those
ambitious designs permanently.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Those who love film noir with accompanying hardboiled dialogue will probably
enjoy this film.

The video transfer is excellent, highlighting some stunning scenes captured
by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance). The audio is clear,
something that is absolutely necessary for this dialogue-heavy film.